The Truth Comes Out! Touma's New Confidence?

She lifts her head slowly as he smiles at her.

Hikigaya "I think you look adorable… Besides, the first time we kissed… we were both quite a mess, weren't we?"

He asks softly. She giggles a bit and nods.

Shiori "I guess you're right. This would be a terrible way to have our first kiss."

She says softly before tightening her grip on his hand. She looks at him blushing more.

Shiori "Do you think… we can do it again?"

He smiles at her as they lean in close to each other and kiss once more. They kiss longer before pulling back a bit. Without pulling back entirely, they kiss again as Hikigaya places a gentle hand on her cheek. They continue to kiss long into the night as it fades to black.

Some days later, Lucy is at home watching TV as her phone rings. She sees that Shiori is calling her. She answers immediately.

Lucy "Shiori! Are you okay? What's going on?"

She asks, concerned. Shiori pauses for a moment before answering.

Shiori "Hey, do you think you and Chizuru can talk for a bit?"

Lucy "Yeah of course. I'll get her over, meet at my place."

Shiori "Okay."

She says before hanging up. A short time passes as Chizuru and Lucy wait outside of her house. They perk up as they see Shiori approach them. She looks concerned and anxious a bit but cleaned up from the night before. Chizuru rushes to her as Lucy follows.

Chizuru "Shiori! Are you okay?"

She nods softly. Chizuru sighs and smiles a bit.

Chizuru "I'm happy to see you again."

Shiori smiles a bit too before her smile fades again.

Lucy "Why do you look so sad?"

Shiori looks at her and they look confused for a moment. A few moments later, Chizuru and Lucy yell.

Chizuru/Lucy "YOU DID WHAT?!"

Shiori closes her eyes from the loud yelling before opening them again.

Lucy "Are you serious? You guys actually made out??"

Chizuru has a huge smile on her face as Shiori nods.

Chizuru "That's great! They finally admitted it!"

Lucy "Hold on Chizu, it might not be great if they don't like each other."

Chizuru looks at Lucy confused before turning back to Shiori who looks upset.

Chizuru "Oh.."

Lucy steps towards Shiori.

Lucy "With what happened and emotions being high, what they did could have just been a spur of the moment thing. And if that's the case…"

Chizuru "Then their friendship might be in jeopardy…"

Tears begin to form in Shiori's eyes. She begins to speak more worriedly and erratically.

Shiori "I don't know what to do… I avoided him all day because I don't know what he's gonna say… And I don't know what to do. I'm worried he might realize how terrible I am and not want to be friends anymor-"

Lucy "Woah, hold on Shiori! This is Hikigaya we're talking about. I'm sure no matter the situation, he won't be mad at you. Secondly, let's start from the top."

Shiori looks at her slightly hopefully as Chizuru is confused.

Lucy "Shiori… Do you like him?"

Shiori is surprised as Chizuru is shocked.

Chizuru "You're really going all in!"

Lucy "Well, if we're gonna figure out what to do next, we need to know how she feels first. So Shiori, what is it? Do you, or do you not like Hikigaya?"

Lucy gives Shiori an intense stare as Chizuru looks too. Shiori stands there nervously and sweats before closing her eyes tightly. She then slams her hands into her face and throws her head back with a frustrated yell.

Shiori "Ugh! I don't know! These feelings are so complicated! He pisses me off beyond belief and he's always so annoying! He likes to tease me and seems to know just how to get under my skin. He's an idiot and a total jerk but above all else… he's kind…"

She relaxes a bit as she thinks back to times Hikigaya showed her kindness.

Shiori "He's always been so nice to me even when I didn't earn it… He's sweet and sometimes can be… cute…"

Lucy and Chizuru smile warmly as Shiori drops her arms and lowers her head.

Shiori "I think… If I can only say it once… I think… I like him…"

Lucy giggles to herself as Chizuru starts doing a happy dance. Shiori blushes in embarrassment and gets angry.

Shiori "But you cannot tell anyone! Got me?! Only you guys can know..!"

Lucy "Haha! Alright, alright, we pinky promise not to tell anyone."

Chizuru "I can't believe this! You finally admitted it! Now there's nothing standing in the way of your love!"

Shiori gets a surprised look with slight blushies.

Shiori "What? Why do you say that?"

Chizuru "Oh, well it's super obvious Hiki is, like, super into you. Oof!"

Lucy chops Chizuru in the head to get her to stop talking. She sighs in frustration before turning to Shiori.

Lucy "Shiori, look. I may not be an expert at love and only got my first boyfriend a little while ago, but here's my advice. Take it slow. I've known Hikigaya for a long time but I cannot say with certainty that he like likes you so for now, I say wait and let things play out. I promise, everything will be okay. Chances are he'll try and play it off like nothing happened as long as you don't bring it up to him, okay?"

Shiori has a bit of a disappointed look but nods.

Shiori "Okay, I guess you're right."

Lucy nods confidently.

Lucy "Of course I am. Now get going. The sooner you guys start acting normal again, the easier it'll be to tell."

Shiori "Normal.. Right."

She says disappointingly. She waves goodbye before walking off. Lucy has a concerned look as Chizuru steps next to her.

Chizuru "Are you sure this is the right way to go? I mean, there's still a chance that she's cloud girl too. With that and now this, what are the chances he doesn't like her?"

Lucy "It's not unlikely but I'd feel terrible if she admitted her feelings to him and he turned her down. I don't think she could handle that."

Chizuru "I suppose you're right… Hiki never was the type to hide his feelings. Still, it's pretty cute they did that, right?"

Lucy nods happily before turning and looking at Chizuru.

Lucy "Come on, if you're not busy, let's do some more research on Hikigaya's cloud girl."

Chizuru "Hehe okay!"

She says excitedly before going inside with her.

Shiori eventually makes it back home. She steps inside before running into Hikigaya downstairs. They both pause for a moment and stare at each other. Shiori blushes and Hikigaya blushes a bit too. After a pause, he speaks.

Hikigaya "Hey Shiori! Glad to see you up and out!"

He says with a big smile. She smiles a bit and nods. She walks past him going upstairs to her room.

Hikigaya "Going back to your room already?"

She stops and looks at him.

Shiori "I promise it's not to lock myself in again."

She gives him a soft smile. He smiles and nods back as she goes into her room. He sits on her bed with her head lowered a bit and a neutral look on her face.

Shiori "Like normal…"

She says softly.

A different day…

Touma walks down the street with his hands in his pockets. He looks up and squints at the sky.

Touma 'It sure is hot today…'

He thinks to himself. As he walks, a ball rolls in front of him from around the corner of the park. He is surprised a bit and bends down to pick it up as a few kids come running towards him laughing and smiling. They turn the corner to see Touma holding their ball and stop suddenly. They get scared looks as Touma pauses for a moment.

Touma "H-here you go…"

He says as he lowers the ball towards them. One kid slightly pushes the other kid towards Touma. The kid shakily takes the ball with his two hands. As soon as he has it, the three kids turn and run away in fear. Touma stares at them with a neutral expression.

Touma 'As usual, people are afraid of me.'

He thinks as he looks to his left to see a couple staring at him. They are startled when he looks their way so they rush down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. Touma sighs.

Touma 'Still, it beats being at home.'

He thinks of Emiko at home slapping him on his back as he sweats, holding up a huge tree log above his head.

Emiko "Come on Touma, you can do it! Just 30 more minutes!"

Touma "You're… not helping…"

Emiko "Later we're gonna do two logs for an hour so don't quit now!"

She shouts at him.

He droops down a bit thinking of that day. He opens his right hand and stares at his palm.

Touma 'It's her fault I have this huge body. If she wasn't so into training, I'd probably be much smaller than I am.'

He looks up as he stops by the main road, waiting for the crosswalk.

Touma 'Then it's my dad's fault for giving me such intimidating eyes.'

He thinks of his large, soft father giving him an intense glare. He shivers a bit from the thought.

Touma 'It's their fault people are so scared of me even though I can hardly say a few words without stuttering and hate conflict. But that's alright because…'

He looks up as the walk sign lights up. He begins walking a bit before getting a surprised look as he sees Chizuru approaching the corner of the road, waiting for the crosswalk in the other direction.

Touma 'It's alright because…'

Chizuru looks over slowly and sees Touma approaching her. Suddenly, her face lights up as she begins to wave to him.

Chizuru "Touma! Hey, what are you doing here?"

She calls to him. Touma blushes as he admires how cute she looks dressed up for the hot summer's day.

Touma 'Because I have friends who like me the way I am.'